Afternoon tea - Savoury cheese and thyme scones

Scones have always been a staple feature of that quintessentially English tradition of afternoon tea. I do like afternoon tea, it's rather decadent eating dainty patisserie and sandwiches with the crusts cut off. No matter what country you go to there's always scones served with a selection of jams, butters and clotted cream on the menu for their high tea or afternoon tea.

I'm a big fan of scones, but if I do have scones they have to be plain with no dead flies in them (aka currants or raisins). I've made sweet scones for years but even with my savoury palate never made them with other ingredients besides sugar.Finding myself with a surfeit of cheese in the fridge, thyme in the garden and a craving for scones I thought what better than cheese and thyme?

Savoury cheese and thyme scones230g self raising flour20g fresh thyme finely chopped70g parmesan finely grated1/2 teaspoon salt60g butter1 teaspoon baking powder1 dessertspoon dijon mustard1 egg50ml milk20g cheddar to sprinkle on top of the sconesPre-heat the oven to 200 celsuis (fan) 210 normalMaking by handPlace all the dry ingredients together in a bowl and mix wellAdd the butter and rub into the flour mixture with your fingers until it resembles breadcrumbsMix the egg and the dijon together, add to the flour mixture and mix through to start to form a doughAdd the milk gradually, you do not want the dough to be too wet and you may not need all of the milkMaking in a food processorTo those of you who have food processors, you can pulse all the dry ingredients and butter together till it resembles breadcrumbsAdd the egg and dijon, pulse againWhile the machine is running add the milk gradually, you may not need all of it, just enough to bind the dough togetherAdding too much will cause the scones to collapse, you need a firm but not too wet dough

To finishTip the dough out of the bowl and form a ballRoll or flatten the dough out to half an inch thickCut into small rounds using a pastry cutterSprinkle the cheddar cheese on top the sconesBake in the oven for 10 minutes Enjoy!